LC: Final vs Man Utd Ratings & Reactions

[AVFC-Prideofbrum]

Apart from being pretty from the outside the new wembley is shit

1.£70 for a ticket £4 for beer, which I don't mind - but where I was served none of the bar staff could speak english - the bloke in front of me asked for tetleys and the geezer gave him crisps

2. I took my dad who is 77 - no one sat down when the game started - no attempt by stewards to ask themor put an announcement over the PA - not good enough for £70

3. The villa fans were great - but the atmosphere just couldn't get going in this faceless staduim

Without offence, you can't really get a great atmosphere with people sitting down. Oh and I thought you were really loud so well done Villa!

[Cj-fitz]

Disappointed.

Thought we were nervous, stood off united a bit too much and our usual rock solid defense was very shakey. I think today will stand to us in future games at Wembley.

[ozvillafan]

I thought we tried hard but really gave them too much space to play in - especially through midfield. Need to press a little higher and a little more eagerly. The back 4 looked nervous. They got better in the second half but almost blew it in the first.

Young was outstanding as I thought he was our only creative attack and his workrate was exceptional. Petrov also had a good game.

[kurtsimonw]

Disappointed.

Thought we were nervous, stood off united a bit too much and our usual rock solid defense was very shakey. I think today will stand to us in future games at Wembley.

Agreed.

The back 4 looked scared to death today for some reason. They showed United far too much respect and I expect much better in future games. Possibly Dunne's worst performance in a Villa shirt.

[kurtsimonw]

Young was outstanding as I thought he was our only creative attack and his workrate was exceptional.

Also agree with this. He's got a bit of criticism in the past for not showing up against the big teams but he made Evra look terrible today. He always works hard, but he put in a Rooney like shift today with the ground he covered I thought.

[rbcuk]

By the way, to those who went, was it a good day?

My mate just described it as one of the most amazing days yet we lost so I find it hard to understand that statement.

It was a brilliant day Joe, the villa fans were awesome and the atmosphere was good, I hope it sounded as good on TV as all we could hear were villa fans.

I know we lost and I am gutted but it was a really good day!

Gotta agree

[parisvilla]

to be honest i thought the atmosphere was average. pre-match at silverspoons was banging though. as for the game, thought gabby was fantastic, probably one of his best performances for us. he makes vidic look like a fool every time we play them. seen a few folks criticise downing but i thought he was pretty good an the same goes for milner.

felt the defence (bar warnock) all looked nervy throughout which was surprising given how solid they've been week in week out.

all in all, close game with united shading it but its so hard to be gracious in defeat against them when the ref cost us dearly

[sellyoakvilla]

This weekend was the best weekend of my life. We lost but we played well and we scored. If we had played shit and got thrashed 4-0 it would have been a different story but we played well. Seeing Villa walk out at Wembley with everyone singing and all the flags waving was definitely emotional. A day I will never forget. Absolute quality.

[PaulMcgrathsknees]

Ash played well and worked hard. Rafeal was non-existant bearing in mind he is supposed to be the next big thing (and should have been booked twice.)

Dowd is the most spineless Fergie fearer to walk our earth.

Rooney. Nuff said.

Warnock left 1 on 1 most match against Valencia. Did ok. Valencia never motm.

Berbatov and Owen dropping off and collecting, then turning and running at out 2 cb's put them on edge.

Carlos trying to cross...........

Very, very quiet Norwich fans.

Stupid music killing build up inside the ground. Crap acqoustics. Empty Manure seats.

Great Villa support.

First final for the young 'un and plenty of piccies.

Villa outsing Manure after the match with 1/3 as many fans left in the stadium.

Day to remember. First of many I hope.

[thetrees]

Ash played well and worked hard.

I find it hard to see any merit in Ashley's performance. I thought that he was poor yesterday, as he has been at various times this season.

Our complete inability to score from open play against anything that approaches reasonable quality opposition is in part because the excellent service that Ashley was providing has ceased.

[kingphil]

Now slept on it after my trip to Wembley, and still very disappointed.

Still can't be arsed to review players etc - but one thing I will note is that the atmosphere seemed none existent. Whether or not that was just to do with the seat I had (two rows from the top) – but all seemed very quiet.

Still managed to enjoy myself, and the ‘friendly’ banter with the united supporters at the train station was class.

[drat01]

One day later and still think that Dowd is a corrupt cheat

[moose]

I thought we were beaten by Rooney, not Man U. Disappointing result, more for the fact that Man U probably don't give a toss about the Carling Cup - 4th on their list of priorities, and it would have meant everything for us.

[theboyangel]

One day later and still think that Dowd is a corrupt cheat

With you there Drat - he's either one of two things - 1) corrupt, in which case he shouldn't officiate another match or 2) incompetent, in which case he shouldn't officiate another match.

The Villa players have nothing to be ashamed of yesterday and Dowd's decisions obviously had an effect on them - knowing that a mistimed tackle or challenge would result in a caution for them but a slapped wrist for ManUre.

Had a cracking day nonetheless - I didn't go there with the expectation of winning but knew we'd have a chance. I would have prefered to have been played off the park and lost 3-0 but as it was, poor biased officiating spoilt a potentially cracking final.

I feel for Cuellar, who has come under a bit of criticism for yesterday - he's been magnificent all season for us and was played at RB which isn't his best position - he gave his all but his delivery is not his strong point.

Downing was the disappointment in our team yesterday, looked nervous and never committed to any physical encounter. His delivery wasn't good either but the difference between him and Cuellar is delivery is what his (Downing's) game is all about.

Gabby, Milner and Petrov were brilliant - simple as.

Our fans were also tremendous and only muted by the continuous poor and baffling officiating....

The tube was jammed with plastic mancs, all with fake accents, having watched Shameless to rehearse 'manc chat'... I wouldn't mind but I managed to get out of the stadium prior to them lifting the cup so their 'fans' on the tube didn't stick around either - that's some loyalty there for you!!!

Chin up fellow Villa fans!!!! It's only a few months before we hit Wembley again

:winkold:

[MCU]

Recently got back from the match. Not quite sure what to say really as I am devastated. This one will take a while to get over and rightly so. The cup was within reach and on another day we could so easily have won it. However, today the footballing gods just simply weren't on our side. It just felt like a day when nothing would go our way and it ended up being just that....

Anyway, the start to the day was a brilliant one. The banter from our supporters outside of Wembley was amazing. The atmosphere was great even though the weather was as awful as it could possibly have been. Best chant of the day: "Are you Norwich in disguise?". I felt so confident going into the match today, compared to the FA Cup Final in 2000. Even walking up Wembley Way felt better today and there was belief in the surrounding are, coming from our supporters.

It was then time to enter the stadium, which I still don't like. It looks nice from the outside, yet once you get inside I still feel it is very poor. It takes far too long to get a programme, nevermind the food and drink. This didn't bother me though as I was more concerned with getting to my seat for kick-off.

Then the big moment came and our supporters were well up for it. On the other hand, the Man Utd supporters seemed very quiet. Five minutes in and we had taken the lead. The celebrations were absolutely mad and it was the perfect start. Then it all went downhill. Despite this being the case, it was another good day out at Wembley. It's just a shame that it was ruined in a big way by the fact that we lost. The trophy was there for the winning and to know we were so close is heartbreaking...

Anyway, when it comes to my opinions on the match, I'm full of them. Some you may agree with and others you may disagree with. Yet the big turning point in the match for me was when Dowd bottled the sending off of Vidic. He quite clearly should have walked. He was the last defender and he clearly denied a goalscoring oppotunity, thus meaning he had to go. Yet, Dowd obviously realised he was in the Man Utd end and probably thought it was too risky to send one of their players off so early. The rules state he should have gone but due to Dowd, he didn't.

Now, some may argue that this is an excuse. However, I am in no way using it as one. The fact remains that if Vidic had gone, the game would have swung even more into our favour at that point. It would have meant that they had to reshape. Plus they would have lost their best CB that was available on the day. Now, in my opinion, this would have had a huge impact. Some will deny and others will say it is too late to complain etc. I'm not crying about it though and saying that we only lost because of that. What I am saying is that this one decision played a massive role in us losing the final. Dowd quite simply should not have gotten it wrong. Absolute bottler!

Onto our players now. I wasn't overly impressed today in all honesty and thought that we could have played much better. We did show up though and it certainly wasn't one of our worst performances. We do still lack that goalscorer though and the gap left between midfield and defence is nothing short of worrying at times. There were many times today when we gave Man Utd far too much space and time on the ball.

Their first goal was an absolute shambles. Not just from Dunne either. It was a shambles for the defensive unit as a whole. They should have easily dealt with the situation, yet didn't. It ended up costing us big time when Owen had a clear shot to put it into the back of the net.

Then there was there second goal. I'm not too sure who was at fault for that to be honest. Rooney should have been marked better though and perhaps Friedel should have saved it. However, truth be told it was a perfectly placed header.

Our lads did try to be fair though. They gave it their all at times and we did look like a threat. It was just that final ball lacking though, or that nice touch from a proven goalscorer. On another day we may well have walked this match and I feel we could have quite easily done so today. It's an opportunity missed in my opinion, yet hopefully the players will learn from this. It was the first time in a final at Wembley for most of the team, which is no small thing.

Full credit to MON and the team for reaching the final and for giving it a fair whack. On the day we were unlucky with the Dowd decision and just not good enough at certain points. We have much to improve on, however it is clear to see that we are on the up.

I would also like to commend Gabby for his performance and work rate today. He was all over the pitch, getting stuck in and trying to get the team moving. Dunne (other than the mistake), Milner and Petrov also played very well in my opinion.

Cuellar isn't a RB and that is clear to us all. He should have been CB today alongside Dunne, with Young as RB. Cuellar did give it his all though and wasn't a complete flop. His passing was the big problem today. Then there is Heskey. I actually thought he did alright. Nothing great but nothing awful throughout the match. He hed the ball up well at times and did do a couple of good things. The main problem with him though is that he simply isn't a threat. I honestly don't rate him very highly, despite the fact that he can do some things well.

Anyway, another trip to Wembley has ended in disaster for me. I was at the final in 2000, yet this one hurts more. I think it's because there was so much expectation. We could have easily won today and it is an opportunity missed. Now is the time for the team to step up and go for FA Cup glory. We can go all the way in that competition and be at Wembley once again.

We are on the up and whilst I am upset, I recognise that we are going places. We do well with what we have at our disposal. Hopefully we will continue to strengthen over the summer. Before that though, we have fourth place and the FA Cup to fight for. Hopefully we can get one of them, otherwise this season may end up looking like a big missed opportunity.

I believe in the lads and MON and think that we still have some unfinished business this season. I may be down today but hopefully over the coming months that will change. Anyway, well done to the lads. We were unlucky in many ways today. Onwards and upwards. UTV!

Well said. Agree with everything in this especially Heskey not being a threat which is why the striker in the summer is top priority.

Regarding the stadium it's big and that's about it. I still prefer the Emrates to it. Like 1 or 2 have already picked up on the staff coulden't speak English. A bloke in front of me asked for Cheese & Onion Crisps and he kept giving him Salt & Vinegar. I too had to repeat 'Pizza' about 5 times to him before he sold me 2 French style pizza slices and 2 packs of crisps for £10. Queue's were huge in their, they should have planned it out a bit better like make more food bars. I also have the Milner Penalty, I'd upload it soon and put on here... we went mad.

[sherl]

"non" sending off was the big decision but would guarantee we'd have won it. I thought it was a good game, particuarly first half and we looked nervous which led to thier goal. Utd have been there and done it and looked composed, we tried a bit too hard at times and didnt have the composure we needed. Gabby was MoM for me, milner close second.

We had our chances but didnt take them but to be fair they didnt either. 96 we got fourth place, league cup win and FA cup semi final. Lets swap the league cup for the FA cup this time.

Bit of a shit weekend all round though with the league results but noone said it would easy!!

I thought we'd get a uefa spot for being runners up too but apparently not?

[sellyoakvilla]

Slept on it and upon reflection I'm even more proud than I was last night.

[Maradona10]

So am i Sellyoakvilla! The boys, the fans bloody did me proud yesterday.

[CastleBromVilla]

Mistakes.

Dowd's and Dunne's.

We'll be back, we'll learn from this, we were very close. Gabby scares the shit out of Vidic every single time he plays against him, Milner and Young were good, Petrov did well. We played a good side and came out second best. All of that stuff and more doesn't help.

Nice to see a big VT turn out in Harrow; a good day out that could have been great.

Richard Dunne's mistake - Such a shame because he made such a brilliant recovery tackle but the ball just didn't bounce for him and feel straight to the feet of a United player.

[villadude]

Dowd is a cheating useless word removed.